TransLivesMatter

PHILIPPINES: Filipina Trans Beauty Queens Get Political in Fight For Equality

PHILIPPINES: Filipina Trans Beauty Queens Get Political in Fight For Equality

Trans beauty queens are not merely pretty faces. Filipina beauty queens turned trans advocates Maki Gingoyon and Geena Rocero get political in their fight for equality and recognition. Consider this: from 2008-2014, the Philippines had one of the highest rates of murders of transgender people in all of Asia, according to the International Trans Murder Monitoring project. Filipina trans women may be visible but often lack recognition and full legal protection leaving them vulnerable to discrimination and violence.

Watch the video that profiles trans women activists in the Philippines after the jump.

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U.S. Marine Scott Pemberton Found Guilty for Killing Jennifer Laude

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U.S. Marine Scott Pemberton Found Guilty for Killing Jennifer Laude

A Philippine court has found Scott Pemberton guilty of killing Filipina transgender woman Jennifer Laude. Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton was convicted of killing Jennifer Laude in a hotel room in Olongapo city, north-west of Manila, last year. The marine was on leave in Olongapo on 11 October 2014, after joint military exercises with the Philippine army, when he met Ms. Laude in a bar. Police said they left together and checked into a hotel, where she was found dead the next day, apparently strangled and with her head inside the hotel toilet. Pemberton will face between six and 12 years imprisonment. News story courtesy of BBC.com.

 

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US Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton is GUILTY for the Murder of Jennifer Laude

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US Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton is GUILTY for the Murder of Jennifer Laude

GABRIELA USA demands immediate justice to find Joseph Scott Pemberton guilty as charged on the vicious hate crime and killing of Filipino trans woman, Jennifer Laude, last October 2014 in Olongapo, Philippines. Last Monday August 24, U.S. Marine Corporal Joseph S. Pemberton admitted to choking Jennifer Laude until she stopped moving, but claims she was still alive when he left the hotel room. Autopsy reports show she died from asphyxiation by drowning.  Pemberton claimed he acted in self defense as he was surprised to find that Jennifer was a “man” and feared being “raped” by him.  This does not excuse the soldier's malicious intent to harm and ultimately take the life of Jennifer Laude. His admission to choking her only exposes Pemberton’s intent to kill Jennifer upon realizing Jennifer’s transgender identity.

From GabrielaUSA